Report of the Second World Congress against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of
Children
Yokohama, Japan: 17-20 December 2001
General Rapporteur: Professor Vitit Muntarbhorn
2
Contents
Introduction
From Stockholm Congress to Yokohama Congress
1. The Changing Nature and Intensification of Commercial Sexual
Exploitation of Children (CSEC)
2. The Challenge of Protecting the Rights of the Child Effectively
3. A Global Phenomenon afflicting both Developed and Developing
Countries
4. Tackling the Demand, Not Forgetting the Supply
5. The Call for Multi-faceted, Comprehensive, Integrated Measures
against CSEC
6. The Child – Victim, Survivor, Change Agent, Leader
Lessons Learned
a. Cooperation/Coordination
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
Participation of Children
Prevention of CSEC
Protection of Children from CSEC
Recovery and Reintegration
Information/Research/Monitoring/Education
Orientations
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Report of the Second World Congress against
Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children
Yokohama, Japan: 17-20 December 2001
General Rapporteur: Professor Vitit Muntarbhorn
INTRODUCTION
In 1996 the First World Congress against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of
Children was held in Stockholm, Sweden. It adopted the Declaration and Agenda for
Action of the First World Congress against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children
(“The Stockholm Declaration and Agenda for Action”), which have become an essential
linchpin globally for mobilising action to protect children from sexual exploitation.
In 2001, from 17 till 20 December, the Second World Congress against
Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children was convened in Yokohama, Japan, as
part of a follow-up process to review developments since the First World Congress. It
was co-hosted by the Government of Japan, the United Nation Children’s Fund
(UNICEF), the End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking of Children
for Sexual Purposes (ECPAT) organisation, and the NGO Group on the Convention on
the Rights of the Child. The Second World Congress provided a welcome opportunity
to strengthen/consolidate world-wide partnerships – old and new – since the First World
Congress and to reinforce the global commitment to protect children from sexual
exploitation and sexual abuse. Delegates from 136 States took part, together with 135
Japanese non-governmental organisations (NGOs), 148 NGOs from other regions, 23
inter-governmental organisations (IGOs), and other participants, including children,
young persons, and members of civil society. A total of 3,050 individuals participated
at the Congress.
At the opening ceremony, H.E.Ms. Makiko Tanaka, Minister of Foreign Affairs
of Japan, made the opening remarks on behalf of the host country. These were followed
by Welcome Speech by H.I.H. Princess Takamado of Japan, Honourable Speech by
H.M. Queen Silvia of Sweden, and Welcome Speech by the Mayor of the Host City.
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The opening session which followed heard keynote addresses by H.E.Ms.
Mayumi Moriyama, Minister of Justice of Japan; Ms. Carol Bellamy, Executive
Director of UNICEF; Ms. Josephine de Linde, Chairperson of ECPAT International;
Ms. Cherry Kingsley representing the NGO Group on the Convention on the Rights of
the Child; and representatives of children.
The Second World Congress witnessed a number of plenary sessions and a
large variety of workshops to address the issue of commercial sexual exploitation of
children (CSEC). This relates primarily to child prostitution, child pornography and
child trafficking for sexual purposes. Many government delegates made statements
concerning action to protect children from sexual exploitation.
There were three discussions panels covering the six themes of the Congress,
namely:
-
Prevention, Protection and Recovery of Children from Sexual Exploitation
Profile of the Sex Exploiter
Role and Involvement of the Private Sector
Legislation and Law Enforcement
-
Trafficking in Children
Child Pornography
These six themes were analysed from the angle of lessons learned, challenges
and gaps. Background information was provided by six papers submitted as
contributions from the various partners in the organisation of the Yokohama
Congress, as follows: Prevention, Protection and Recovery of Children from
Commercial Sexual Exploitation written by Jane Warburton; The Sex Exploiter
written by Julia O’Connell Davidson; The Role and Involvement of the Private
Sector written by Mark Eric Hecht; Child Sexual Exploitation and the Law
written by Geraldine van Bueren; Trafficking in Children for Sexual Purposes
edited by June Kane and Jyoti Saghera; Child Pornography written by John
Carr.
The Report on the Yokohama Congress was written by the General Rapporteur,
Professor Vitit Muntarbhorn (Thailand), and an oral summary was delivered in the
plenary session on the final day of the Congress. At the Closing Session,
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representatives of children and young people made a final appeal on the issue of the
sexual exploitation of children. An Outcome Document from the Yokohama Congress
in the form of The Yokohama Global Commitment 2001 was adopted by
acclamation in the final plenary session. The Closing Remarks were delivered by H.E.
Mr. Ryutaro Hashimoto, former Prime Minister of Japan, on 20 December 2001.
FROM STOCKHOLM CONGRESS TO YOKOHAMA CONGRESS:
The period between the Stockholm Congress and the Yokohama Congress has
seen a number of positive developments analysed in greater detail below, including
more cooperation against CSEC, more activities aimed at prevention of CSEC,
protection of the child victims, rescue/recovery and reintegration of the victims, and
increased child/young people’s participation. In some areas, the situation has improved,
but current trends suggest that CSEC is worsening on many fronts.
CSEC is rendered more complex by the following scenarios:
1. The Changing Nature and Intensification of CSEC
CSEC mutates and intensifies.
As witnessed by various reports and
discussions of the Yokohama Congress, the situation facing CSEC has changed since
the Stockholm Congress and is changing and will change.
First, although negative traditional practices persist (such as the Devadasi system
(or equivalent) of giving girls to various temples who then fall into the trap of
prostitution), a more modern process of sexual exploitation has been expanding rapidly,
namely the trafficking of children for sexual purposes. This phenomenon is both
national and transnational, both in country and across borders, both continental and
transcontinental, both regional and inter-regional.
International and national cooperation to tackle the issue is emerging in several
regions. Various regional, subregional, bilateral and national activities have been
initiated during the past five years to counter the menace of trafficking. Some of the
examples of these initiatives are listed below in the section on “Protection”.
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In one presentation made at the Yokohama Congress, it was stated that the
situation is aggravated by socio-economic deprivations and the “belt of patriarchy”
leading to gender-biased discrimination. That “belt of patriarchy” is compounded by
the “bolt of criminality” pervading many regions of the world – the spread of crime,
including organised criminal networks, preying on innocent people, particularly women
and children, both locally and internationally. While the needed counter-measures seem
self-evident – and many of them are listed in the international instruments below – there
is a long way to go to promote implementation measures that address the phenomenon
effectively.
Second, while the benefits of globalisation such as the growing information and
communication systems should be recognised, the negative aspects of globalisation are
increasingly visible and are intensifying CSEC. Most evidently, the rise of the Internet
has become a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it is a wonderful tool for the
spread of information, education and entertainment – alias “Info-Edu-Tainment”. On
the other hand, it has become a massive network for the spread of child pornography. It
has posed critical questions for how to prevent and suppress the child pornography
which wreaks havoc on children generationally and trans-generationally. Not only are
the child pornography images on the Internet replicable infinitely, but also they remain
in cyberspace indefinitely. With consequences from childhood to adulthood, and for the
sexually exploited child, from one generation to another, precisely because the images
are indelible.
Various initiatives to protect children from the threat of child pornography
through the Internet include legislative responses to incriminate abuses on the Internet
to self-regulation by the Internet Industry (such as through the adoption of Codes of
Conduct), the provision of hotlines to receive complaints of abuses, and a broadened
educational process for children, families and teachers to promote safety on the Internet.
These can be assisted by technological responses such as the development of software
programmes to help filter or block information coming through the web, and networks
between Internet service providers as a vigilant partner for child protection.
Yet, despite these initiatives, the global community is on unknown terrain in
regard to the impact of the exponential use of the Internet and other technological
innovations. The technology is mutating every day, and it may regrettably by used to
exploit children in diversified forms. For example, a few years ago it was the “bulletin
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boards” on the Internet which were most talked about in terms of the spread of child
pornography. Today, email, chatrooms and the web have been supplemented by
cameras attached to computers, with more individualised webs adding new features to
the “real time” of instantaneous but globalised communication, replete with moving
images of multiple forms of exploitation. At the Yokohama Congress, one workshop
addressed the misuse of mobile phones for CSEC not only by means of telephone calls
but also electronic messages via mobile phones – all part of the dating-cum-moneycum-sex afflicting young people particularly in some countries. This thus calls for
technological and community-based vigilance.
2. The Challenge of Protecting the Rights of the Child Effectively
The rights of the child are inspired and guaranteed particularly by the key
international treaty on the subject – the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)
which has been ratified almost unanimously by the global community. There was a
vigorous call from participants at the Yokohama Congress for unanimous and
expeditious ratification of the CRC.
Under this treaty, the child is generally defined as a person under 18 years old.
The CRC embodies basic minimum standards for child protection and provides the
global and national settings with a structure for more child-sensitive actions. There are
several provisions calling for prevention of abuses and exploitation as well as recovery
and reintegration of the child victims. Most directly on the issue of sexual exploitation,
Article 34 of the Convention calls for inter-disciplinary measures aimed at preventing
-
the inducement or coercion of a child to engage in unlawful sexual activity;
the exploitative use of children in prostitution or other unlawful sexual
practices;
the exploitative use of children in pornographic performances and
materials;
Article 35 of the CRC calls for a variety of measures to prevent the abduction
of, the sale of or traffic in children for any purpose or in any form.
The Stockholm Declaration and Agenda for Action complement the CRC by
providing more specific commitments and a checklist of needed measures. The
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Stockholm Declaration itself underlines key principles and commitments calling for
more cooperation between States and other partners to:
-
-
accord higher priority to action against CSEC, with adequate resources;
promote stronger cooperation between States and all sectors of society and
strengthen families against CSEC;
criminalise CSEC, punish the offenders and ensure that the child victims
are not penalised;
review and revise where appropriate, laws, policies, programmes and
practices to eliminate CSEC;
enforce laws, policies and programmes against CSEC and strengthen
communication and cooperation between law enforcement authorities;
promote adoption and implementation of laws, policies and programmes
against CSEC, in addition to relevant mechanisms;
develop and implement comprehensive gender-sensitive plans and
programmes to prevent CSEC and help the victim recover and reintegrate
into society;
create a climate through education, social mobilisation and development
activities to help families to protect their children from CSEC;
mobilise political and other partners to assist countries against CSEC;
enhance popular participation, including that of children, against CSEC.
The Stockholm Agenda for Action provides a list of needed measures in a
comprehensive
and
inter-disciplinary
setting
in
the
following
areas:
coordination/cooperation, prevention, protection, recovery and reintegration, and child
participation. As part of measures of coordination/cooperation, there are two major
commitments from the Stockholm Agenda for Action:
-
to adopt national agendas for action and indicators of progress by the year
-
2000;
to identify/establish focal point(s) at the national/local levels, with data
bases on CSEC, by the year 2000.
To date, some 50 countries have adopted or are in the process of adopting
national agendas for action/plans against CSEC. The international framework has
been enhanced in recent years by the rise of other treaties reinforcing protection of the
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rights of the child. These include:
-
-
the Optional Protocol to the CRC on the Sale of Children, Child
Prostitution and Child Pornography;
the International Labour Organisation (ILO)’s Convention no.182
concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination of the
Worst Forms of Child Labour, complemented by its Recommendation
no.190;
the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons,
-
especially Women and children, Supplementing the UN Convention against
International Organised Crime;
the Convention on Cybercrime.
-
Various provisions of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court
also counter sexual exploitation as part of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
As seen above, the global community is hardly short of international
instruments, such as treaties, commitments and declarations, on the issue. These have
been enriched by various regional instruments ranging from those found in
Central/South America to Africa and Asia. A recent addition in Europe is the Council
of Europe’s Recommendation (2001)16 on the protection of children against sexual
exploitation. These are complemented by a variety of actions and programmes from the
European Union.
At the national level, there has been a variety of law reforms, new legislation,
policies and programmes to protect children from sexual exploitation introduced since
the Stockholm Congress. Some examples are found below in the section on
“Protection”. Suffice it to note here that , in reality, the international and national
framework suffers particularly from the inadequacy of implementation of all the
promises made. On a related front, the adoption of national plans of action against
CSEC has also to be measured from the angle of the quality of their implementation.
The implementation process is particularly challenged by five C’s which often
obstruct the effective guarantee of child rights: Crime, Corruption, Collusion,
Clientelism and Complacency.
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Further marginalisation is witnessed by minority and indigenous communities,
especially where their children have no access to birth registration, proof of identity and
citizenship – in which case, regrettably, they may become subjected to multiple forms
of discrimination and exploitation.
There is equally a strong message to be conveyed concerning the minimum age
for protecting the child from CSEC. The international trend advocates that children
under 18 years of age must be protected absolutely against CSEC, irrespective of the
issue of sexual consent. That was a prominent call at the Stockholm Congress and
reverberations of that call ring true today!
3. A Global Phenomenon afflicting both Developed and Developing Countries
There was a key recognition throughout the Yokohama Congress that CSEC is
a global scourge affecting both rich and poor countries, both developing and developed
countries, although the extent of the problem varies per country and per region.
The environment/root causes behind the phenomenon are multifarious. They
include poverty, inequality, illiteracy, discrimination, persecution, violence, armed
conflicts, HIV/AIDS, dysfunctioning families, the demand factor, criminality, negative
traditional practices, and violations of the rights of the child. In this regard, poverty
should not be seen as a pretext for justifying the sexual exploitation of children.
Indeed, there are many poor countries where CSEC is not a major problem. By
contrast, it is disconcerting that while CSEC is rampant in several developing countries,
there are many instances of CSEC also rampant in developed countries, where
economic deprivations are not so prevalent.
The physiognomy of the problem is also changing, precisely because CSEC is
becoming increasingly a borderless phenomenon. Importantly, the trafficking issue
referred to above transcends national boundaries and interlinks both developing and
developed countries. Likewise, the advent of the Internet and other forms of
technology referred to earlier.
Precisely because of the global nature of CSEC, cooperation is key to tackling
the phenomenon. The Stockholm Congress and Yokohama Congress are the
embodiment of the concerted will on the part of the global community to cooperate to
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protect children from CSEC. It is also important to recognise that the needed actions
demand an on-going, sustainable process of co-operative measures, and some of the
“good practices” on this front are seen below in the section on Cooperation and were
highlighted at the Yokohama Congress. Suffice it to note here that in responding to the
global challenge, there is much room for multi-faceted, multi-disciplinary and multilevelled measures.
In the lead-up to the Yokohama Congress, the regional consultations in various
parts of the world attested to the “value added” of the regional inputs as a complement
to the international/global cooperative framework. Several regional
commitments/declarations stipulate a more definite time frame than the international
framework in regard to the need for national agendas/plans of action against CSEC. For
example, the Regional Commitment and Action Plan of East Asia and Pacific Region
Against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children urges countries, especially Pacific
Island Countries that did not attend the First World Congress, to adopt, by 2004, the
Stockholm Declaration and Agenda for Action, and to adopt, by 2004, national
plans/agendas of action in accordance with the Stockholm Declaration and Agenda for
Action. A similar deadline – by 2003 – was adopted by the Commitment and Plan for
Action adopted by the participants from Europe and Central Asia at the Conference on
‘Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation’.
The other regions have provided many valuable inputs complementing global
action against CSEC. For example, the suggestions from North America Regional
Consultations on the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children include:
-
the call to develop strategic alliances with the public and private sectors,
including government, youth-based and parent-organisations, and parents;
the call to ensure that a national strategy against CSEC is a plan that can be
monitored, evaluated and reported on;
the call to design and implement campaigns to sensitise people about the
issue of CSEC.
On another front, the Declaration of the Arab-African Forum against Sexual
Exploitation of Children highlights the fact that the subject of sexual exploitation
remains a taboo in many countries – and it is through a variety of co-operative activities
globally and locally that the taboo can be broken. This Declaration and the South Asia
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Strategy adopted by the South Asian Consultation for the 2nd World Congress against
Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children underscore the relationship between child
rights and women’s rights, particularly the plight of the girl child, the rampancy of
violence and the spread of HIV/AIDS affecting the young.
Meanwhile, the Commitment for the Implementation of a Strategy to Deal with
Commercial Sexual Exploitation and other forms of Sexual Violence to Children and
Adolescents in Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as the commitments/
declarations from the African/Arab Consultation and South Asia, broach the fact that
global/local communities should tackle more effectively not only CSEC but also noncommercial forms of sexual exploitation, such as child marriages and intra-familial
situations of abuse, and the need for national plans of action against CSEC which
enhance cooperation among and between partners, as well as multi-sectoral measures,
on a sustainable basis.
The global nature of CSEC thus requires not only global responses but also
regional and other responses, as seen by the regional commitments mentioned.
Capping the above is the reality that clearly the cooperative activities against
CSEC require adequate financial and other resources. Yet, it is regrettable that many
budgetary allocations are distorted against child protection. There is too much
expenditure on arms purchases when the money would be better used to help children
and marginalised groups. This year’s preoccupation with terrorism has also diverted
much attention and resources from the concerns facing children to the commitment to
State security. As noted by one panellist at Yokohama:
“Isn’t it sad that the state of the child does not command that commitment? Do
we have to be driven by calamities to get our act together?”
4. Tackling the Demand, Not Forgetting the Supply
During the Yokohama Congress, the demand factor for CSEC was raised as a
predominant concern. On one front, the issue is closely interlinked with the pattern of
male behaviour, and the fact that in the majority of cases of sexual exploitation of
children, it is men who perpetrate the crimes against children. This does not neglect
the fact that women are also at times involved with exploiting children for sex, but a
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major concern of the discussions at Yokohama was to address the issue of the demand
factor and the role of males in relation to CSEC.
Male behaviour is intrinsically linked with the educational and socialisation
process, where regrettably the knowledge base, attitudes and behaviour are not
adequately nurtured to respect the rights of children. As commented by one participant:
“men are the problem, men need to be the solution.” And cooperation needs both men
and women, young and older.
Second, although in many situations boys are the victims, it is the girl children
who are the vast caseload of the sexually exploited. Any interventions to prevent and
to protect the victims must be based upon greater respect for the rights of women. It is
thus only through the empowerment of women that the demand for CSEC can be
reduced.
Third, it was recognised by a background document on the “Sex Exploiter” that
the term used needs to be in the plural – sex exploiters, rather than the singular. The
document notes intriguingly that:
“There is no ‘sex exploiter’ as such. Instead, there are people (adult and child,
male and female) who sexually exploit children in many different ways, for
many different reasons and in many different social contexts. Questions about
who sexually exploits children cannot be reduced to questions about
‘paedophile’. Though we must urgently address the existence of, and harm
caused by, those who consistently and consciously seek out young children to
abuse, questions about why children are sexually exploited and by whom do
not end here.”
There is thus a diversity of exploiters to be identified and analysed. For
example, the notion of exploiter encompasses not only the client of CSEC, but also the
pimp, the procurer, the industry, the negligent authorities and the whole system that
fails to respond to child protection.
Moreover, it should be noted that:
14
“To be clinically diagnosed as suffering from ‘paedophilia’, an individual need
not necessarily have committed any sexual abuse, and we cannot therefore
claim that all ‘paedophiles’ are sex exploiters. It would be still more
emphatically wrong to claim that all sex exploiters are “paedophiles”, and this
would remain the case even if the term were more loosely used to refer to
adults with a sexual interest in young children (as it is used in popular
parlance).
Sex exploiters who are involved as third party beneficiaries of CSEC are rarely
motivated by personal sexual desire or obsessive fantasies. They sexually
exploit children for profit, not because their act of exploitation brings them
psychic belief or sexual gratification. Next there are those who sexually
exploit children if and when they find themselves in situations where a child is
more readily or cheaply available for sexual use than an adult, but whose
satisfaction does not bring on the physical or emotional immaturity of the
individual they exploit. There are also adult men who choose young children
as sexual partners primarily on the basis of misconceptions about sexual health,
or because they uncritically accept myths about virgins being able to restore
potency, bring luck to new business venture, and so on.”
Tackling the demand factor and its various manifestations also requires us to
tackle the ‘5’ C’s reported earlier as well as an additional ‘5’ C’s affecting
contemporary society – Cash, Cars, Cell phones, Computers and Consumerism, at times
resulting in a decline in values and the treatment of children as objects of exploitation
rather than as subjects of rights.
On another front, it should be underlined that the demand factor goes hand in
hand with the supply factor – and the components of that factor which push children
into sexual exploitation and the context behind them are diffuse. They vary from
poverty to family disintegration and violence, from armed conflicts to clandestine
labour migration, from the threat of sexually transmitted diseases to the advent of new
technologies, from social inequity at the local level to economic disparities at the global
level, from uneven development to crimes such as trafficking, from gender/sexuality to
power/abuses, from non-commercial abuse/exploitation to the realm of
commercialisation and the warped free market. Interventions against the demand and
supply factors thus call for integrated measures and they are linked to the multi-pronged
approach adopted by the Stockholm Declaration and Agenda for Action, namely,
15
coordination/cooperation, prevention, protection, recovery/reintegration and child
participation.
An important actor in the process is the media; they need to be mobilised more
extensively to counter stereotypes and to build awareness and behaviour sensitive to the
rights of the child. One media message to be conveyed to the public suggested by a
panellist at the Yokohama Congress was this:
“real men don’t rape.”
The role of families and communities should not be underestimated in
encouraging more responsive behaviour to protect children as well as to monitor and
pressure against the exploiters.
5. The Call for Multi-faceted, Comprehensive, Integrated Measures against CSEC
The call for these measures is longstanding. It was loud and clear at the
Stockholm Congress, and was equally loud and clear at the Yokohama Congress. Many
participants at the Yokohama Congress viewed the Stockholm Congress as seminal in
breaking the taboo of CSEC and the silence permeating CSEC.
It was and is a
challenge conveyed to various policy makers who remain blind to the problem. If the
problem is regarded as invisible to them, there is a degree of fictitious invisibility
involved! As noted by one panellist at the Congress:
“This time, we cannot pretend that we did not know. This time we cannot
pretend we did not see.”
The Yokohama Congress highlighted even more strongly the need for effective
implementation of comprehensive programmes and to move beyond overcoming the
silence of neglect-and-omission to nurturing an abundance of child-sensitive actions.
The various panels and workshops provided opportunities to share and learn
constructive developments and “good practices”, as well as the gaps and obstacles.
From the angle of progression from Stockholm to Yokohama, a key question for
review is to what extent the two time-targeted goals of the Stockholm Agenda for
16
Action – national plans and national focal points by the year 2000 – have been
implemented by the time of the Yokohama Congress.
As noted earlier, some 50 countries have or are in the process of developing
National Plans of Action against CSEC. The record is disappointing and needs further
impetus. Moreover, these reflections observe note. First, it is not only the adoption of a
plan of action which is important but also the process of promoting cooperation among
the stakeholders in the lead-up to the adoption of the plan of action, as well as post
facto. Second, the key test of any plan is in its implementation. Yet, information on the
implementation of national plans and evaluation of such implementation is missing or
nascent rather than well established. Third, in fairness, some countries without such
plans are taking concrete measures against CSEC, while, in truth, the mere fact that a
country has a national plan does not guarantee that it will be well implemented unless
there is the political – and social – will of governments and civil society to do so.
Yet, the “value added” of having a national plan is that it provides more focus
and specificity of purpose, in addition to a rallying call for more targeted measures, with
adequate resource allocations. The plan itself has to be well monitored, and thus
depends upon a transparent and credible monitoring structure/institution/mechanism
which can promote effective implementation, review, reforms and follow-up. This is
linked with the need to promote respect for the rights of the child through childsensitive processes/mindset;
laws/enforcement;policies/implementation;programmes/practices;
mechanisms/institutions/personnel; resources (material/ non-material); information/
education; and cooperation and coordination. Yet, the identification of a national focal
point and monitoring mechanism on the issue remains unclear in many countries.
If the Yokohama Congress provided an opportunity to take stock of the
development of these measures, a key message is that they are still not enough. The
speed and quality of these interventions were summed up by one comment at the
Congress:
“Slow, Slow, Slow.”
This was paralleled by continual messages of hope, and not despair:
17
“Imagine how much worse CSEC would be, if we did not cooperate against it.”
6. The Child – Victim, Survivor, Change Agent, Leader
The Yokohama Congress provided a key forum to understand “the child” better
and the impact of CSEC on the child affected by it. While some would regard the
children subjected to CSEC as victims, another perception is the resiliency of
children in surviving the traumas of CSEC and the need to help them progress from
the image of victimisation to that of survivor - with the potential to step from the
passivity of their position in CSEC to pro-activity in the healing process and “moving
on in life”.
At the Congress, many survivors recounted how they were able to move into
new lifestyles, occupations and environments. Some are peer counsellors helping
other children, others are involved with advocacy and a whole process of constructive
change. As noted by a survivor:
“Crucial to this understanding is the voice of vulnerable and exploited children.
I believe their voices must become central to our actions against the sexual
exploitation of children. If you see us only as victims, you have missed the
point. We could be leaders, indeed many of us are.”
This changing perception and image calls for more broad-based, concrete action
including:
“
- Recognise those most vulnerable and protect them;
- When commercial sexual exploitation is happening, develop respectful
non-punitive interventions for children and hold those responsible for
-
buying, selling, and facilitating the exploitation of children accountable –
“we must stop jailing our exploited children”;
Fund and resource exiting and healing programmes for children and youth
who are exploited;
Engage young people in the development of laws/policy programmes and
services.”
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The wisdom of the victim who became a survivor, who became a change agent,
who became a leader is seen from these quotations from the young person concerned:
“By supporting our Commercially Sexually Exploited youth, we send a
message that we know what is happening, we are sorry we let you down and
we care and we want you to be safe and free.”
And
“As we struggle for solutions to end the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of
Children, we may find that it is the children that have been exploited that show
us the way.”
LESSONS LEARNED:
The Yokohama Congress provided a wealth of information to review
developments since the Stockholm Congress.
Key developments were noted on various fronts, including the following:
a) Cooperation/Coordination
Since the Stockholm Congress, the issue of the sexual exploitation of children
has gained a much higher profile and has come increasingly to the fore as an area
needing broad-based cooperation and collaboration between States, NGOs, IGOs, the
private sector, children/young people, and members of civil society. There has emerged
greater cooperation between these actors on many fronts.
A large number of cooperative activities were noted by participants at the
Yokohama Congress, including:
-
more joint activities between government personnel, NGOs, and other
actors within countries and across borders;
more cooperative actions within countries, bilaterally, (sub-)regionally and
multilaterally;
19
-
greater networking between members of the private sector, including the
communications industry and the travel/tourism industry;
closer cooperation among/between governments, IGOs, NGOs, and young
people
The realities facing coordination/cooperation were highlighted by various
discussions at the Yokohama Congress. In referring to the various regional strategies
promoting cooperation, one workshop underlined the following challenges:
-
-
there remains disagreement among operational actors concerning
definitions behind the phenomenon of sexual exploitation of children;
there are many possible different levels of the existence of different
partners, through information sharing, to ongoing collaborative planning,
but the cooperation must not be allowed to become an end in itself;
inclusion of young people and their representatives is important to
comprehensive and effective cooperation, but this is nascent and
experimental rather than well-established.
These lessons were identified as useful for others working in this area:
-
-
more information is needed, particularly data that come from children and
the young people themselves. This presumes reliable and methodologically
sound data collection.
good cooperation is that which is both necessary and effective. There are
many levels of cooperation, and it is important to know at what level
cooperation is useful.
It is worth recalling that the Stockholm Declaration and Agenda for Action
called for the attainment of two targets by the year 2000 , as noted above, very much as
part of “cooperation” and “coordination”; these have yet to be implemented more
extensively world-wide.
b) Participation of Children
One of the major tenets of the Stockholm Declaration and Agenda of Action
was the participation of children and young people to protect themselves from sexual
20
exploitation.
At the international level, there has been greater networking among young
people through a number of forums, including one major forum (involving the survivors
of sexual exploitation) held in Vancouver in 1998 and the International Conference on
Young People’s Participation Project against CSEC held in Manila in 2000. The
Yokohama Congress was preceded by a young people’s forum at Kanagawa.
A number of activities took place involving young people from many parts of
the world in the process leading to Yokohama to establish dialogues between/among
young people and adults, including government officials. One project cited during the
Yokohama Congress was to involve young people in research to interview other young
people who are involved with CSEC. The lessons learned include these features from
the project:
-
resource-intensive nature
the need to be planned, supported and given plenty of time
good communication and sensitivity
the need “to give back to those who have participated”
Another project involving young people discussed at the Yokohama Congress
was on child participation and the media. A major aim was to empower children and
young people through media literacy, particularly to maximise good use of the media
while countering the negative aspects.
Other lessons learned on the issue of participation from examples cited at the
Congress include:
-
the need to avoid the token inclusion of children in the activities as
-
contradistinguished from genuine involvement in these activities
the need to address the pervasive cultural perception and practices based
upon the premise that “children are to be seen and not heard”
As noted by a participant at a workshop held during the Congress:
21
“The opinion of young people is sometimes considered only on paper and not
in reality.”
c) Prevention of CSEC
Since the Stockholm Congress, there have been a number of key programmes
and activities aimed at preventing CSEC. For example, a good practice in one country
is the existence of a Youth Career Development Programme based upon cooperation
between members of the hotel industry, UNICEF, NGOs and the government sector to
help train youth and prevent the conditions leading to their entry into CSEC. The
programme recruits young women who might otherwise have been vulnerable to CSEC
to enter a programme of training in the services of the hotel industry and life skills.
Another programme discussed at the Yokohama Congress highlighted the need
to engage a person at the core of his/her own value and strength so that s/he is able to
participate in self-determining a better future. Community alternatives are thus used to
prevent and fight domestic and sexual violence, including child prostitution. A
systematic approach based upon services involving inter-agency collaboration is
promoted.
A difficult area for many countries is how to address the issue of sexuality and
the introduction of sex education (or the equivalent) in the educational system, bearing
in mind the need to be culturally sensitive. In dealing with the theme of sex education
as a means of preventing sexual abuse, one of the workshops at the Yokohama Congress
underlined these lessons:
-
the importance of conveying scientific information to children and to
protect them from being ashamed of the subject;
-
the need to be aware that every adolescent is at a different step of
development, to be careful about the language used in education and to be
conscious of the psychological status of adolescents;
the linkage with women’s empowerment.
-
Another project cited at the Yokohama Congress was to involve the
community more actively in preventive measures against the trafficking of children
22
through education and participatory research. The lessons learned included the
following:
“
1. Children need to learn that change is possible and that they are not victims
of circumstance.
2. Children need to understand their rights and need to be encouraged to
speak out.
3. Children need training in non-violent conflict resolution to avoid the cycle
of violence.
4. Adults must be encouraged to take their responsibilities seriously.”
From the angle of technology, particularly the advent of the Internet, a key
concern is to use it wisely and to prevent abuses, while not demonising the Internet.
This calls for various awareness programmes on the safety of such technology. In the
workshops held during the Yokohama Congress, this issue was addressed in regard to
the implementation of Internet Safety Awareness Programmes. A key lesson is that the
programme must be targeted to the audience – parents, teachers and children of all ages,
and the message should be empowering and realistic, while covering offline and online
materials. Partnerships are also important, interlinking between industry, governments
and non-profit groups.
Another angle of preventive action is to educate and raise awareness among
groups and individuals who have impact on the lives of children. For example, in some
regions, there has been a growing campaign against sex tourism affecting children. This
campaign has involved the travel and tourism industry in a variety of activities, in
cooperation with NGOs and Governments at times, in various innovations, e.g.
information slots/messages (such as film/video clips), training of trainers and
monitoring processes.
There is potentially a limitless list of activities which can be targeted to prevent
CSEC and it is closely interwoven with the other measures noted above and below.
d) Protection of Children from CSEC
The protection issue is closely linked with all the other needed strategies, such
23
as prevention, and is intertwined with key measures such as laws, policies and their
effective implementation.
The emerging role of national plans of action against CSEC has already been
noted. On the legislative front, there have been many legislative reforms across the
globe since the Stockholm Congress. These include at the national level:
-
New Child/Adolescent Codes and equivalent laws guaranteeing the rights
of the child
-
New laws against trafficking
New laws against child prostitution, child pornography, and other forms of
child abuse and violence
New child welfare laws that provide more services and facilities to help
prevent sexual exploitation of children, and offer services
New laws against the worst from of child labour, including CSEC
New laws to offer more child sensitive procedures such as videotaping of
child witnesses’ evidence so that they will not be traumatised by multiple
questioning; video links between the court room where the accused sex
exploiter appears and the room where the child gives his/her testimony to
-
-
avoid face-to-face confrontation between the accused and the child; and the
presence of psychologists, welfare officers and/or counsellors to assist the
child
New extraterritorial laws to incriminate the misdeeds of a country’s
nationals and residents if perpetrated against children in other countries
New extradition laws and new mutual legal cooperation arrangements
New measures to screen-out applicants suspected of child abuse when they
seek employment near children
Many of the (older) existing laws parallel to the above have also been invoked
more readily against CSEC due to the international and national pressures on the
subject.
Japan’s own experience on this front was analysed extensively by various panels
and workshops. For example, with the introduction of a new law against child
pornography, the load of child pornography materials in Japan has declined. There have
been a number of significant prosecutions of the perpetrators on this issue, as well as
24
cases concerning “dating young girls for sex-cum-money.” The issue is now a higher
priority among policy-makers and law enforcers – propelled inevitably by the
Yokohama Congress itself. The question of whether possession of child pornography
for private use (as contradistinguished from public use) and whether cartoon-types of
child pornography not actually involving real children (the ‘Manga’ cartoons) should be
criminalised remains open to debate.
Many of the panels and workshops at Yokohama delved into the issue of
trafficking of children and effective protection measures. While various new laws have
emerged against the trafficking of children and other groups, the relationship between
such laws and immigration law and policy, on the one hand, and other laws which
criminalise prostitution, on the other hand, is not altogether clear. While the child
victims of trafficking should, in principle, not to be penalised, they may regrettably fall
into the trap of being classified as illegal immigrants entering a country without
permission and in breach of the national immigration law. The fact that a country
generally criminalises prostitution may also lead to the child victim being placed in the
category of a prostitute, thereby becoming legally and socially stigmatised as a criminal
and an outcast in the process. The preferred direction advocated by several participants
of the Yokohama Congress and various Governments was not to classify the victims of
trafficking as illegals or criminals.
As noted by a comment in one workshop:
“Traffickers – and not the victims – should be penalised.”
Another perspective is that in many countries, law enforcement is weak and
slow. Access to justice and to the judiciary is very limited generally, and all the more
so for children. A workshop at the Yokohama Congress on “Law, Justice Delivery and
Enforcement” raised concerns in regard to South Asia which have a universal message:
“
-
-
While trafficking is a rampant problem, the reporting and conviction rates
are low; the delivery of justice is slow;
In processes of law, the “burden of proof” lies with the victims, while
“benefit of the doubt” is given to the trafficker. In the event of convictions
of traffickers, there is no provision in the law to compensate the victims;
Corruption within the law enforcement agencies is an area of concern;
25
-
Gender bias in the existing legislation is an area of concern;
There is a need to sensitise the judges and law enforcement – attitudinal
and behavioural change in these institution is required;
In the trial process, the victims’ right to privacy is violated and the victims
is retraumatised.”
Steps needed for the future include:
“
-
comprehensive laws addressing the issue of trafficking
-
extradition treaties and bilateral agreements to facilitate prosecution of
traffickers
speedy delivery of justice
court procedures to be made victim/child-friendly
coordinated response from the various law enforcement agencies
victim’s protection to be addressed.”
-
A key reflection was provided by this comment:
“When the laws (in South Asia) were framed, they were based on criminology.
Now with the human rights movement and international Convention, there is a
need to change the focus to victimology.”
Another workshop on extraterritorial laws highlighted the lessons of
implementation including:
-
the need for more attention to the evidence of child victims and how it is
handled;
the need for awareness-raising among the judiciary, and child-sensitive
procedures;
the importance of discarding the double criminality provisions in relation to
the offenders (these provisions call for proof that the alleged misdeed is
both a crime in the country where it took place and in the (other) country
where the accused is tried).
Various constructive directions suggested by the discussions during the
Yokohama Congress included:
26
-
decriminalization in relation to the child victim
provision of social welfare facilities to help the child victims rather than
placing them in detention
restorative justice and compensation for the child victims
protection of witnesses
training and capacity-building of law enforcers to help children
cross-border and in-country cooperation between government officials,
NGOs, the private sector, IGOs and members of civil society.
On an encouraging note, one commentator observed:
“If you work with one police officer and meet his heart, we can reach many
more police officers through him.”
On another front, the linkage between the protection issue and the private sector
has come increasingly to the fore. For the latter, in addition to or as an alternative to the
“hard law” of national legislation, the industry itself may take a role in adopting various
Codes of Conduct or Ethics to protect children from CSEC. While not binding as law,
these Codes offer a degree of self-regulation based upon a “soft law” approach more
oriented to guidelines than norms.
One workshop on this issue addressed the Code of Conduct for the Protection of
Children from Sexual Exploitation in Tourism. This experience is based upon more
education and awareness raising of those involved in the sector, on the one hand, and
contractual clauses which repudiate CSEC, on the other. A major challenge concerns
how such Code would be implemented and reviewed in regard to the implementation
process. Parallel situations exist concerning the role of the communications industry,
particularly Internet Service Providers, in exploring self-regulation to prevent CSEC.
From the discussions at the Yokohama Congress, at times the “hard law”
approach may be adopted, while the “soft law” approach may also be explored – the
latter with the advantage of enabling the industry to have a sense of ownership in action
against CSEC. The key, however, is effective implementation, and there is a linkage
between the law-based response and the other interventions required – social, cultural,
economic, psychological, technological and more.
27
e) Recovery and Reintegration
Guidance for measures of recovery and reintegration is found in the Stockholm
Declaration and Agenda for Action. They range from rescue to judicial, medical and
psychological remedies, as well as return to the homesteads of the victims in safety and
dignity.
One panel which addressed this issue highlighted these lessons in regard to the
trafficking phenomenon:’
“
- using rescued children as a vital resource in rescuing other children;
- criticality of partnerships in national and cross-border repatriation both at
government and NGO level;
- monitoring, surveillance and prosecution can be effective deterrents to
trafficking. ”
Clearly, there is a link between prevention, protection, and recovery/
reintegration as an integrated strategy with the victims’ interests as a primary concern.
As noted by one commentator:
“Autonomy, dignity and choice have turned a ‘victim’ into a ‘survivor’ ”.
While legal sanctions against the perpetrators are essential against the factor of
impunity, the Stockholm Agenda for Action also invited the global community to
address the psychological challenge of the exploiter of children in this process. This is
closely linked with the demand factor raised earlier in this report and the need for a
humane educational and socialisation process respectful of the rights of the child.
While psychological support is needed to help children recover from traumas,
psychological interventions to deal with deviancy in relation to the exploiter should not
be forgotten.
Yet, the reality is that many countries lack the staff to deal with psychological
issues and the impact of CSEC on a long-term (longitudinal) basis. The spread of
HIV/AIDS takes its toll in terms of further depletion of resources for the health sector.
28
The building of a corps of quality–based personnel, a supportive infrastructure, and the
use of community capabilities to act sustainably are thus an underlying challenge.
f) Information/Research/Monitoring/Education
One of the persistent questions concerning CSEC is the number(s) of children
subjected to this danger. “How many millions?” is a favourite question. “Have they
increased or declined?”
In some of the research concerning various regions, it is possible to indicate that
CSEC is in decline for some groups. Yet, with the changing situations noted earlier, it
is possible to generalise from recent investigations and coordinated police actions in a
number of countries, such as Operation Cathedral and Operation Landmark, that the
world is faced with another type of “new millions” of abuses – millions of pictures of
child pornography conveyed by the Internet. On another front, it is worth noting that
the Stockholm Agenda for Action called for indicators of progress as well as databases
on CSEC at the national level by the year 2000. This has not been responded to in
many parts of the world, to date.
Of note is the fact that a number of United Nations agencies are now promoting
the building of databases, such as by means of long-term/longitudinal surveys and
sentinel surveillance system to trace samples of children and their families in the path to
and exit from CSEC.
Various workshops during the Yokohama Congress touched upon the issue of
research and data from these angles:
-
the need to research the manifestation of sex tourism and link the research
to the programme development process of the tourist industry;
-
the need for mapping of the CSEC situation on a long-term basis;
the need to evolve indicators and to document cases and data
systematically;
the need to be clear and as complete as possible when providing the
information in a data bank;
the need to make the information available to stakeholders;
-
29
-
-
the need to open the door to participatory research involving children,
bearing in mind the need to share benefits with them, consistent with the
rights of the child;
the need to up-date the collected data regularly.
In the area of education, many of the activities cited above have an educational
component linked with or integrated into them. Special training programmes on child
rights and against CSEC have emerged in various parts of the world, and they range
from programmes for general students to NGOs, officials, and those in the private
sector, including the travel/tourism industry, employers and workers.
Awareness-raising campaigns for the public against CSEC have grown in many
regions, and many have been due to the impetus provided by NGOs, while interacting
with law enforcers, the private sector and other stakeholders. Examples include radio
spots against CSEC, videos shown on aeroplanes against CSEC, and related posters,
leaflets and other methods of dissemination. Yet, in many parts of the world, public
education against CSEC is still inadequate, and even where it is present, it lacks
sustainability and support systems to nurture behavioural changes, especially on the part
of the demand factor referred to earlier. Thus, there is much more room for a more
systematic and sustained process of information-gathering/utilisation, field/actionrelated research, transparent monitoring mechanism, and broad-based awareness-raising
and education in a sustained and proactive manner. The value of spiritual inputs, music,
art, culture, sports and leisure activities in activating interest to protect children from
sexual exploitation should not be underestimated in this regard.
ORIENTATIONS:
The Yokohama Congress provided a golden opportunity to trace key
developments since the Stockholm Congress. It witnessed a rich tapestry of views,
dialogues and interchanges. Importantly, it provided the “experiential” side in the
follow-up of the Stockholm Declaration and Agenda for Action – the strengths,
weaknesses and challenges faced at the policy and practical levels. Significantly, it
broadened the discourse to cover various stakeholders who were encompassed only in a
limited manner at the Stockholm Congress – namely, children/young people, and the
private sector. This augured well for a broadened global movement to protect children
30
from sexual exploitation – children, governments, NGOs, IGOs, the private sector, the
media, and members of civil society.
The march to the future should bear in mind the following preferred orientations:
-
-
-
-
-
Ensuring effective protection of the rights of the child through participatory
processes;
Learning from the voices of the children who have been affected by
commercial and other forms of sexual exploitation and working with them
in dignity and in the pursuit of self-esteem;
Ratifying and implementing well the Convention on the Rights of the child
and related instruments;
Reinforcing the Stockholm Declaration and Agenda for Action through
practical actions based upon non-discrimination, the best interests of the
child, the child’s right to life, survival, and development, and respect for
the views of the child;
Guaranteeing protection for children under 18 years of age absolutely from
CSEC, irrespective of the issue of consent to a sexual act;
Harmonising national laws and policies and ensuring their consistency with
international standards;
Ensuring that the child victims of CSEC are not criminalised/penalised;
Promoting an integrated culture of peace, human rights, sustainable
development, democracy and good governance for all;
Underlining actions not only to curb the supply factor but also the demand
factor, particular to prevent deviant behaviour leading to CSEC;
Identifying good practices and profiles on child protection, while
overcoming the not-so-good practices;
Widening the networks against sexual exploitation of children to involve all
key actors/stakeholders, with even greater participation by children/young
people and the private sector;
Countering the proliferation of crimes and corruption interlinked with
CSEC by more preventive measures, effective law and policy enforcement,
and community vigilance;
Building the capacity of officials, including law enforcers, service
providers and other actors involved in work to protect children from CSEC,
through training and supportive incentives for their work;
31
-
-
-
-
-
-
Establishing a global fund to address the issue of sexual exploitation and
sexual abuse of children, while allocating more national resources to tackle
the issue;
Addressing not only the physical impact of sexual exploitation of children
but also health-related and psychological impact, bearing in mind the
escalating problem of HIV/AIDS;
Promoting more sustained and broader awareness-raising programmes and
education/information campaigns to prevent sexual exploitation of children
and to nurture behaviour respectful of the rights of the child, particularly
among men;
Adopting and implementing national agendas/plans of actions against
CSEC, and establishing related focal points, in addition to indicators of
progress and data bases, coupled with regional plans and inputs, consistent
with the spirit of the Stockholm Declaration and Agenda for Action;
Ensuring comprehensive measures against CSEC with a transparent process
of review and reform;
Promoting child-and-gender sensitive facilities and services accessible to
the child victims;
Countering the negative aspects of technology while harnessing their
benefits for child protection;
Protecting the role of the family in child protection and in overcoming
negative traditional practices;
Recognising the contributive work of NGOs and civil society members
against CSEC, and promoting the network of volunteers and the spirit of
volunteerism to help children and marginalised group;
Enhancing coordination/cooperation/collaboration at different levels of
society and between different actors to prevent and remedy CSEC and
other forms of sexual exploitation and abuse, with the imperative that these
malpractices must not be tolerated.
In conclusion, as one commentator at the Yokohama Congress aptly summed
up in his presentation:
“Instead of waiting in the trenches for the wind to change, let us be the
windmill that directs the winds of change.”
32
(20 December 2001, Yokohama)